Pomegranate Juice
by Lavender Feline
Summary: taisuke Taichi always acted before thinking, but now that the act is over, the thinking has to start. The only problem is, he has no idea what to do now.


**Pomegranate Juice**

Mind the rating kiddies, this scene happens immediately post-coital. If you like this and wanna read more taisuke, check out my profile for the fics I can post on here, or go to www dot taidai dot gogglelove dot net for a lot more! And as always, please leave feedback and let me know what you thought!!!

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"Are we... friends?"

Taichi hadn't expected that question, not then at least, not when the younger boy was still whimpering and panting, his lips still swollen, his eyes still glazed over, his face and neck and ears still flushed the color of one of those big red fruits Hikari liked.

Grunting with the effort of shifting, pulling out, rolling off of the younger boy, and finding himself on his back and staring up at the ceiling, Taichi strained his still-foggy mind for an answer. He was cold now that it was over and he was lying on his own, but if he moved to grab the blanket he'd be expected to respond, to give Daisuke an answer to his question. He lay still instead, trying to make the haze clear from his mind, trying to think of what to say, and knowing that every second that passed he risked hurting the young boy next to him.

The right answer was very important. But what was it?

Daisuke sniffled. Afraid to move, Taichi glanced at the boy from the corner of his eye. No, he wasn't crying. Not yet, at least. He was just cold. He felt bad on top of everything else, for making him lay there in the cold until he thought of what to say.

But if he reached for that blanket, it was all over. He had to think. This was one of those moments that people with more artistic talent and interest in romance wrote songs about. People like Yamato. Yamato wrote songs when he didn't know how to express himself. And if that wasn't enough, he'd come to Taichi.

Now his gaze flitted to the phone sitting on his desk at the far end of the room. He could call Yamato. What would he say? He'd wonder how Taichi had found himself in bed with Daisuke, that's what he'd say.

_"Taichi-senpai, could you give me some advice?" Daisuke's voice trembled and he was blushing all the way down his neck._

_Taichi set down his soda and nodded, letting him into the apartment. He was home alone on a Saturday, and he really had no idea why Daisuke would have shown up at random like this. It must have been very important._

_"It's about someone... I like..."_

Flicking his tongue out over his lips and tasting Daisuke there still, Taichi remembered. That was when it had happened. That was when that strange unbearable anger clawed its way out of him.

Who was it? Hikari? He wasn't _allowed_ to date Hikari. Hikari is an innocent young girl, and no way was he going to let-

...But it wasn't Hikari, Daisuke had reassured him. No, it was a boy.

A boy? He'd felt warm and knew he was getting red in the face. Who was it?! He'd clenched his hands so hard then that he could feel the sore marks his fingernails had left even now, although he'd forgotten them while he was... busy with other things.

_"It doesn't matter who it is," Daisuke had insisted, seemingly unaware of Taichi's reaction. "I just don't know what to do. I don't know how to tell them and... when they reject me..."_

_"They won't reject you if they're not complete idiots," Taichi had responded. "So who is it?"_

But Daisuke wouldn't answer.

Ignoring the fury that was building within him that was ready to unleash itself on anyone remotely masculine that had ever approached Daisuke, Taichi had done his best to remain calm. Jealousy over having to share your prodigy's attentions was one thing, but he was overreacting. He had to help him, right?

_"Well, if I was going to tell someone I liked them, I'd probably just kiss them," he'd said, swallowing the rest of his thoughts down hard. Daisuke had come for help because he trusted Taichi, and he deserved good advice._

_"Kiss them?" Daisuke's voice had pitched up into a squeak, and Taichi had acted without thinking. It was just a kiss after all, right?_

_But it wasn't just a kiss for long. First he'd simply ducked his head and kissed the younger boy lightly, but that wasn't enough. He tasted good. He tasted **good**, and the emotions within him were becoming far too strong to control._

_He'd never been very good at controlling his emotions._

_When he'd parted his lips and gotten Daisuke to respond, he thought, "This is enough. I'll stop here and tell him that it was just practice. Now he'll be good at kissing... whoever it is."_

_But that was when Daisuke moaned. He **moaned**, and suddenly images flashed before Taichi's shut eyes. Who was Daisuke moaning for? Takeru? Ken? Some boy from school? Hell, Iori? Jyou? Koushirou? Yamato? Someone else? He'd kill them. He'd kill them all. But first he had to have that noise for himself. It was **his**._

Swallowing hard, Taichi realized that he was beginning to breathe heavily again, and he shut his eyes, tired of staring up at the ceiling, tired of trying not to move and ignore the fact that right next to him lay a very confused boy who had just asked him a question that should have been easy, that _was_ easy, but that for some reason he couldn't make his lips form an answer to.

_"We're friends, right?"_

'Fuck no,' yelled a voice inside of him. 'I'm not his fucking _friend_. I'm something else. I'm his mentor, his leader, his _idol. _I'm his fucking _God_, aren't I?! So why the hell is he asking if we're _friends_?!"

Gritting his teeth, Taichi let those thoughts quiet. That was stupid. This entire situation was stupid. Daisuke's crush was stupid.

Daisuke's crush. He still didn't know who it was, but he knew they weren't good enough. No one was good enough. He'd been there for Daisuke, he'd known him since he was a kid, he'd trained him up-

...But he hadn't really _done_ anything, had he? He'd taught him some soccer. He'd babysat him once or twice. He'd been his friend.

He'd been his friend. Taichi blinked at the realization, and slowly turned his head to stare at the boy lying next to him. The boy with the sun-kissed skin and the mahogany hair and the blush that was still there, and still red, and still...

"Senpai," Daisuke opened his lips and whimpered. He was curled up, shivering just a bit from the coolness in the room, and his eyes were getting glassy.

'Shit,' Taichi thought. He knew he'd never hear that word the same way again, and he felt bad for only being able to think of that when Daisuke was so obviously near crying.

_"Senpai," Dasiuke moaned when Taichi had touched him. "Senpai!" Daisuke called out when Taichi sucked him. "Senapi!" Daisuke screamed when Taichi fucked him. And he moaned it and called it out and screamed it so many times that Taichi lost count. The word was delicious, a moan, a scream just for him, a word that whoever this worthless crush was couldn't touch. It was **his**__Daisuke was **his**, if nothing more than right then, when his back was arched and his eyes were shut and his fingers were digging into Taichi's back._

So he'd fucked him. Taichi realized that. He hadn't touched him lovingly, or slowly, or shown him the way you're supposed to show someone their first time, what to do or how to breathe or that it's okay, or that they're not being used... being fucked. Daisuke had been fucked. Taichi had fucked him. Making love had never come into his mind with anyone before, but suddenly the realization that there had been no tenderness in the act made him feel ill.

When he opened his mouth to give his response, he realized how metallic it tasted, and realized he'd bit the inside of his cheek, and it was bleeding a little. He cursed himself for it, for making the last remenants of Daisuke's flavor escape his mouth.

"We're friends, Daisuke," was all he could say.

Daisuke shut his eyes, seemingly reassured, and reached down to grab the blanket himself. Taichi let him. He couldn't touch him now. It was over. It was someone else's job to kiss him now.

Feeling that jealousy rear up inside of him again, Taichi stood and put on his sweatpants before leaving the room. He had to breathe. He had to find something to eat. Food would clear his head. He didn't think of what Daisuke would feel, lying in his bed alone after being used. He couldn't think about that right now, or he'd want to do something about it.

But what?

Picking up one of those huge weird fruits from the basket on the kitchen table, Taichi sighed heavily, realizing it really was the color of Daisuke's blush, of his lips, of every part of him that had flushed when Taichi had touched him.

When he came back into his bedroom carrying a knife and plate, Daisuke was curled up and crying softly. Taichi hesitated in the doorway, not sure if he should leave him alone or not. But deciding that it was too late to stop being selfish now, He kicked the door shut behind himself, and hopped onto the bed, shoving the large round red thing into Daisuke's hands.

The younger boy jumped, completely taken off guard by Taichi's reappearance, and he took the red fruit, holding it, but staring at Taichi instead.

"Two things," Taichi heard himself say, his voice hoarse from forcing out the words. He was pretty sure they weren't the right ones, but he was also pretty sure that they were as close as he'd get. "First off, I shouldn't have done that. M'sorry." He winced in saying it. Apologies hurt. But this one had to be said, if Daisuke was going to cry. Daisuke crying hurt a lot more than apologies.

The younger boy opened his still-red lips to speak, but Taichi raised an eyebrow at him and shook his head. "I'm not done."

Daisuke's mouth snapped shut.

"Second of all, I don't know who it is you like, but you shouldn't. They're not good enough for you. They won't listen to you, and they won't understand you, and they're probably going to cheat on you and make you miserable. That's just odds. No matter who it is you like, that's probably how it'll end up."

Daisuke's expression had changed into one of confusion, mixed with a good solid pout.

Taichi felt the corners of his mouth lift up, and he wasn't sure why. He wanted to kiss Daisuke again. That might make him smile, or at least keep him from pouting.

"But if you like them, you should just go up and kiss them. That's what I would do." Gritting his teeth, Taichi frowned, waving the dull knife in Daisuke's face. "But I don't want you to."

The confusion on Daisuke's face grew, and his pout got worse. To top it off, a blush began to grow on his nose and cheeks.

Taichi felt his expression melt into a grin. He snatched the fruit from Daisuke and stabbed the knife into it, cutting it in half and opening it up on the plate. "Hikari likes these things."

Daisuke nodded dumbly, not pulling his gaze from Taichi's face.

"Here, eat it, it's important to eat after sex, or you'll feel all weak and tired all day." Taichi shoved one half of the fruit into Daisuke's hands, and scooped into his own with his fingers, eating some of the juicy gooey stuff inside. He watched as Daisuke's pout faded and his confusion increased. Then Taichi unceremoniously spat the seeds back onto the plate, and licked his lips. "They're kinda messy, I don't usually bother to eat them."

"Then... why are you?" Daisuke asked, looking vulnerable, as if the 'why' wasn't just about the fruit.

"Because it looked like you," Taichi responded before he could think. Then he frowned and cocked his head, considering his own answer.

Daisuke suddenly looked offended. "I don't look like a pomegranante! My hair's not that red or anything and-"

"Not your hair," Taichi said quickly. "Your blush. You blush that color." He blinked at the fruit. "Pomegranante, huh? I can never remember the name." He smirked playfully at Daisuke, his eyes narrowing. "I'll call it 'Daisuke-Fruit' instead, that's much easier to remember."

Daisuke's entire face and neck quickly turned a shade to match the fruit he was holding perfectly, and Taichi couldn't help but laugh.

That's when Taichi had the half of the pomegranate thrown onto his bed, spilling bright red mess all over his sheets, and Daisuke was grabbing his clothes and storming towards the door.

Suddenly, the image of Daisuke in the arms of... whoever it was he was going to run to... overwhelmed Taichi's senses. "No!" he yelled, and jumped up, spilling his own fruit on himself and his bed, and he ran after Daisuke, reaching him in the hallway, and did the only thing he could think of. He picked him up, slinging him over his shoulder, so that he couldn't get away.

"Wha-Taichi-senpai, what are you doing?! Put me down!" Daisuke dropped his clothes and flailed before wrapping his arms around Taichi's neck to get his balance, leaving them face-to-face.

Taichi froze when he saw the tears running down Daisuke's cheeks. "I wasn't laughing at you."

Daisuke shook his head and shut his eyes and started to sob, and Taichi suddenly felt terrible for making light of it all. He'd shoved Daisuke into the front door, he'd pulled him down the hall to his bedroom, and he'd pinned him to the bed and taken him.

All because he'd been jealous. He hadn't considered how Daisuke felt at all.

"I'm sorry," Taichi said, and this time he wasn't saying it out of guilt, he meant it. And when he ducked his head and pressed his lips to Daisuke's, he meant that, too.

Daisuke's sobs quieted as he slowly returned the kiss, and his arms tightened around Taichi's neck, clinging to him desperately.

When he set Daisuke back down, so that the boy could hit him or cry more or run away, or do whatever it was he wanted to do, Taichi braced himself for anything. He was prepared. He was going to lose Daisuke. He'd pressed too far, too much, and he wasn't even sure why.

Daisuke blinked at Taichi, and then, still blushing a color to match the mess on Taichi's chest, he leaned up on his tip-toes, and pressed his lips to Taichi's in a soft kiss, that was barely felt by either of them.

When Daisuke had stepped back, Taichi felt himself slowly smile. "I'm stupid, aren't I?"

Daisuke blushed and ducked his head, as if afraid to answer the question, even in joking.

Ducking his head and resting his forehead on Daisuke's, Taichi pressed a pomegranate dyed red finger to Daisuke's lips. "Wanna know a secret?" he asked, and he suddenly knew what the answer was.

Daisuke blinked at him, his lips trembling against the fingertip.

"I like you, too."


End file.
